Gutter-curb and means for protecting curb angles.



PATENTED OCT. 16, 1906.

J. W. PARKER. GUTTER CURB AND MEANS FOR PROTECTING CURB ANGLES.

A;PPLIOATION FILED APR.11, 1905.

UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. PARKER, OF MEXICO, MEXICO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1906.

Application filed April 11, 1905. Serial No. 265,075-

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN W. PARKER, of the city'of Mexico, in the Republic of Mexico, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gutter-Curbs and Means for Protecting (,urb Angles, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention isto produce a curb for street-gutters which shall be at the same time economical, durable, and efficient. The material most generally employed for the construction of curbs in localities where the cost of such material is not prohibitive is the hardest natural stone, particularly granite; but the cost of transportation imposes a prohibitive expense upon such material, exceptv in localities within available distance from the quarries where such natural stone may be obtained. It has been proposed to substitute a manufactured article for the natural stone in the form of concrete construction sometimes called artificial stone, consisting of a hardened mixture of broken stone or suitable material of the like and hydraulic cement; but objection has been found in practice to the breaking or shaling off of the concrete under impact or abrasion of the wheels of vehicles to which a curb is necessarily exposed in use. This difficulty suggested the employment of a metallic rotective plate, particularly for the cur angle, which is the portion of the curb that in prac tice re uires protection. Here, again, another 0 stacle has been encountered, which presents a difficulty in a twofold aspect. The one difficulty is to produce a curb angle which will practically serve the purpose for which it is intended without the necessity of the em loyment of such Weight of metal as to who ly deprive the structure of its economic availability. The second difficulty is to secure suchanchorage in the concrete of the metal angle-plate as may effectually incorporate the two materials, metal and concrete, into a perfectly united composite structure and without subjecting the concrete to liability to cleavage by reason of the presence within it of the metallic member;

I accomplish the object in view by the employment of an external protective member or angle-plate designed to extend for indefinite lengths, as convenience may determine, lengthwise of a curb and upon the angle thereof. This angle-plate I provide with a web of sufficient transverse extent to secure for it ample anchorage in the body of the concrete into which it is introduced and also to accommodate at frequent intervals spacious apertures through which the material of the concrete mixture may ass substantially in mass and become equa ly well incorporated with the concrete mixture upon opposite sides of the web. The means described for securing. the web are not to be confounded with the means of anchorage, in which engagement of the concrete in small or segregated masses witha metal plate is relied on to afford anchorage for the plate. It is well known that the strength of concrete is found in its resistance to crushing force. This resistance cannot be utilized if the concrete be segregated into small portions, but may be utilized only if the concrete be employed in mass. The difference between the contraction and expansion of concrete and metal tends to crumble the concrete, separating the metal therefrom, unless themetal is well bound into the mass of the concrete. The means whichl em loy for binding and incorporating'the metal with the mass of the concrete is to provide in the web of the angleplate a series of spacious circumscribed apertures, which are respectively penetratedby and filled with the concrete material of the curb in masses, which are in turn surrounded by the metal of the web. The result of the circumscribing apertures as distinguished from open-'sider'l apertures is to afford efficient resistance to the force of resiliency which may be developed in the angle-plate and web by impact from without. When so bound and incorporated, as by my invention, the web of the angle-plate supports the angle-plate securely in position under all conditions of service to which it is exposed, and the mass of concrete affords anchorage for the web permanent and secure.

In the accompanying drawings,'which constitu te a part of this applicatiomFigure I is a perspective view of a portion of a gutter in' place, showing the exposed end thereof insection and illustrating the preferred form 'of embodiment of my invention. Fig. 11 is an end elevation of a portion of Fig. I, on an enlarged scale, illustrating my angle-plate and web in cross-section. Fig. 111 is a side elevation of a section of my angle-plate and web, intended particularly to illustrate the construction of the latter.

Referring to the numerals on the drawin s, 1 indicates a roadway or gutter-floor, 2 a sidewalk, and 3 a section of a curb. It is to the curb 3 that my invention particularly relates. In the practice of my invention the curb is made of concretethat is to say, as has been specified, of a suitable mixture of bulk material, such as broken stone and a bin er, as of hydraulic cement. 'In practice the cement is prepared by the proper admixture of water, which when the materials of the concrete are properly commin led undergoes a chemical change, common y designated as settin whereupon the concrete becomes hard an solid like rock. The curb may be manufactured in sections, or it may be manufactured continuously and in lace-that is to say, on the spot and in the ocation where it is to be used.

4 indicates my angle-plate, which is provided with an endwise-disposed web 5. The angle-plate and web are preferably integral with each other and may be made of structural steel of suitable shape, preferably having its opposite flanges 6 and 7 slightly inbenttoward the Web 5 to im art to it a curvilinear contour, as illustrated, or example, in Fig. II,

that contour being the one preferred, though not essential. In the web at frequent intervals I rovide spacious apertures 9, circumscribed tour. The circular shape is preferred, because it avoids the presence of segregated portions or points of the concrete and permits of the incorporation through the web of the concrete in mass and in regular uniformity of distribution.

While it is undesirable in an instrument like the present to specify exact datails of proportion, yet it will be obvious when pointed out to one skilled in the art that a too great reduction of the diameters of the apertures 9 will impair the bonding of the concrete and metal and tend in use to permit separation of the concrete and the metal. The minimum dimensions of the apertures 9 might perhaps be ascertained by experiment; but any ex-.

periment must prove to be of too little utility to be of general practical applicability, because the results obtainable vary with ever varying condition of the material used, as we 1 as of temperature and moisture of the atmosphere. The practicable course, therefore, is to specify such dimensions as may be relied upon 'un er all conditions, and I accordingly specify in general terms that in a web approximately three inches wide circular apertures 9 and preferably of curvilinear con-- should be two inches in diameter and located, respectively, three-quarters of an inch a art. These dimensions are regarded as suitab e for all conditions; but if minimum dimensions available in an particular case be desired the may be rea 'ly calculated, under the genera specifications hereinbefore set forth, by an expert in the art acqpainted with the conditions of the case. n ordinary curb construction it is necessary in order to perfectly embed the web in the concrete to construct it of transverse extent greater than half the length of the transverse extent of the curb in the plane in which the said web is located, as shown, for example, in Fig. I of the drawin s. This depth of anchorage of the web in t e curb is made practicable by reason of the presence in the web of the spacious apertures which characterize my invention and without which such deep seating of the web in the curb would produce cleavage of the top of the curb above the web from its base. It 'may be noted, further, in this connection that the employment of large apertures is not only of practical importance for securing anchorage of the web in the concrete, but that it also materially diminishes the weight of metal in the an le-plate considered as a whole :that is, inc uding its web, which is of paramount importance where cost of transportation must be, as in the present instance, considered.

What I claim is 1'. The combination with a curb of concrete construction, of an angle-plate and a central endwise-disposed web, said web being provided throughout its extent with a series of spacious circumscribed aperturesthat are respectively penetrated by and filled with the concrete material of the curb.

2. As an improved article of manufacture for use in concrete curb construction, the com-' bination of an angle-plate and its central web made of structural steel, the angle-plate having its flanges inbent toward the web and the web perforated at frequent intervals by spacious circumscribed apertures.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN W. PARKER.

Witnesses:

ROBERT G. BOONE, T. EDWIN SANDERS; 

